Description

Energy is a significant portion of the average low income household’s annual cost, yet many low income residents live in homes with substandard insulation, inefficient appliances, windows and lighting. As a result, they spend more than they need to on energy costs – directly taking away from other family requirements. But while low income families are excellent candidates for cost effective upgrades, a lack of liquid capital, generally lower than average credit scores and lack of access to the usual avenues of marketing means they have been a difficult market to reach. Furthermore, the low income community is an attractive target for government supported policies because they are often availing themselves of other assistance programs. Lowering the expenses associated with energy usage can reduce their reliance on public assistance.
A range of policies have been pursued to address these barriers toward expanding access to energy efficiency and renewable energy for the low income population. For more information, see the full policy brief.

For more information on the components of the policy see the full policy brief.

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Disclaimer

This website, and the data contained within it, should not be used to score or rank states. Moreover, the component questions within a given policy, although they are represented together graphically, are not additive. The SPOT for Clean Energy is intended to illustrate the policies each state currently has in place, which elements those policies contain, or do not contain, and key questions to ask. All information contained in this database is derived from information in the public domain. Nothing here constitutes legal advice.